Dancing in the Dark
by patheticnerd
Summary: this is just a OC/Hiro love story. not at all action-y, just their love-life, pretty much. will contain awkward, adorable fluff! (BE AWARE THAT THIS IS MY FIRST STORY SO PLEASE NO HATE AND ALSO IM SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR ANY AND ALL GRAMMER/SPELLING MISTAKES)- (i now only take suggestions, otherwise discontinued)
1. The Dawn of a New Era

It had been several months since the whole ordeal with Krei Tech, and almost everything was back to normal. Hiro Hamada was in his cluttered lab, pushing several books and papers into his backpack, about to head home.

"Alright, read to get going?" Hiro asked as he spun around, his pack sliding up onto his shoulder. But when he looked, he was alone, which was strange, considering Baymax had been behind him just a moment ago.

"Baymax?" he called as he exited the lab, searching for his puffy robot. He stuck his head out the door, glancing to the right. As he did so, he just managed to catch a glimpse of something round and white disappearing around the corner.

"Baymax!" he called again, but if the robot heard him, he didn't seem to care.

Hiro chased after him at a moderate sprint in an attempt to stop Baymax before he got outside again, or something. However, when he caught up to him, Baymax had entered someone else's lab, and was helping a young girl around Hiro's age to her feet.

The room was- needless to say- much more orginized than Hiro's. Everything wa neat and orderly, the only exeptions being a desk, which had an exceptional amount of papers scattered about it, and a heap of spare parts near the side, which just so happened to be were the girl was.

She had chestnut-brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail, a few wispies hanging by her chin. Her light gray eyes marveled at Baymax's out-stretched hand, which her own pale, slender fingers grasped gratefully. Together, tehy managed to heave the girl to her feet, and Hiro noted that she was close to his height, though maybe a few inches taller. She had a lanky build and her skin was light, especially in contrast to her hair. It seemed as though she didn't see the light of day very often. He could respect that.

"Thanks," the girl mumbled to the robot, fidgeting with her clothes. She picked up her dark red-rimmed glasses, which were lying close to where she fell. Hiro noticed her dark purple tank top, which was mostly hidden under a black hoodie. Her dark bue jeans were coated with a fine layer of doodles and dried acrylic paint, and the pant legs ended where you could see the entirety of her black-and-white converse, which also show-cased colorful scribbles, as well as fun, pink laces.

"I will scan you now for injuries," Baymax said, looking her up and down.

"That's quite alright, I'm fine, " the girl insisted.

"Scan complete!" Baymax declared, despite the girl's objections. "You appear to have sustained no major injuries. However, the muscles in you right leg seem lightly swollen and irritated. Diagnosis: a mild sprain. On a scale from one-to-ten, how would you rate your pain?"

"Thanks, Baymax," Hiro interrupted, patting the mechanism's fluffy arm, "but that's enough. She's fine."

Baymax blinked, angling his head to the side. "But she is my patient," he objected. "For the time being, her physical well-being is my only concern. Symptoms of a sprain include-" he then began reciting stuff like "light bruising", "pain", and "swelling", but neither of the two were paying attention.

After a quick double take from Hiro to Baymax, the girl turned again to the boy beside her. "I'd take it this is your robot?" she asked with a light smile to show she was amused.

"Yeah," he said. "But I didn't start the project. I'm just... keeping him up and running, I guess."

"Oh, cool," the girl said. She then held out a soft, warm hand with blue-painted fingernails. "I'm Erabelle, by the way. Just call me Era." Hiro shook her hand, while introducing himself.

"So, do you go here?" Era asked after the brief introduction.

"Uh, yeah," Hiro answered. "My lab's just down the hall." He gestured down the way he came. "You?"

"Me?" Era asked, appalled, before letting out a snort of laughter. "Um, no. I don't. My sister does, actually. She's in the bathroom, changing. I'm just here because we're going out to dinner."

As if on cue, a girl around 5'6, probably about nineteen entered the room. She had hair that was much darker than Era's, and was cut short. Her blue eyes studied her phone as she walked in on wedged shoes. She wore a bright green sundress over black leggings that stopped right under her knee.

"Okay, ready?" the newest girl asked, clicking her phone off. As she did, she seemed to notice Hiro for the first time. "Oh. Hi, there. But, um... not to sound rude, or anything, but... who are you?"

"Lanie, this is Hiro," said Era, resting her delicate hand on his forearm. "I sort of fell over, and he and his robot came when they heard the crash, I guess."

"Robot?" Lanie's eyes traveled upwards to Baymax, though how she missed him at first was a mystery. "Oh, wow. So, this is your's? You made this?"

Hiro nodded awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, I did. Sort of."

"You go here?"

Again, the fourteen-year-old nodded tensely.

"I suppose you must be that kid everyone's talking about, then, huh? Gradutated high school at thirteen? Invented those cool microbots? That's you?"

"Yeah, I'm... that kid." Hiro uncomfortably shifted his weight from foot to foot.

He noticed Era roll her eyes at her sister. "He is a _person_, Lanie. Not just a GPA or a couple cool inventions. I bet he's tired of hearing that, anyway." A sideways glance allowed her gray eyes to lock with Hiro's brown ones. He gave her a small smile of gratitude.

"Yeah, okay," Lanie mumbled. "Anyway, we need to leave if we're going to catch dinner. It was nice to meet you, Hiro." She turned to her sister. "Ready?" After nod from Era, Lanie glanced back at Hiro and motioned for him to follow.

"Oh, right." Hiro quickly turned around to address his inflatable friend. "Come on, Baymax. Aunt Cass'll be worried if we don't get home soon." About a minute later, they were all out in the hallway. He would've walked with then to the front door, but h had to deativate Baymax so he could get him home inconspicuously.

Actually, he had recently modified the robot's charging station, allowing the signficantly smaller container able to fit easily in his backpack.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" asked Hiro after the final good-byes.

Era frowned. "I don't go here, remember? I go to California Performing Arts across town."

Hiro mentally slapped himself. How did he not remember? "Oh, right. Well, then, see you when I see you, I guess." With one last wave, they parted their seperate ways.

_**So? What do you guys think? Please leave a review, good or bad, just please don't hate. Tell me what I need to change, if anything at all, and, if possible, I'll do that! Thanks for reading!**_


	2. Tying the Knot

Well, Baymax was right. My ankle was sprained.

The morning after my run-in with that boy Hiro and his fluffy friend, I went to school, obviously. However, I had been dismissed from my first "active class" that day, which was lyrical.

At California Performing Arts Middle/High School, we alternate between mental and physical classes, the active classes were "customizable", I guess you could say. Depending on what you were interested in, that's what classes you'd take. Just different variations on that. As it was an performing arts school, you could choose between vocals, acting, dancing, art, music, or any number of the previous. I tried doing vocals as well as art and dance, but I discovered it took too much time, and I had way too much homework. So, I just stuck with the last two.

Anyway, earlier that morning, I had noticed slight pain in my right ankle, and it was slightly discolored and puffy, though nothing too bad. Just as the robot had predicted. But, I ignored it, and proceeded to lyrical class (being a form of dance, not singing), but the more I moved, the more pain shot up my leg until I couldn't bare it anymore. I told the teacher, who sent me to the nurse's office, who wrote a note, excusing me from anymore dance classes that week, much to my dismay. Hey, at least I got the homework off, too.

Our school's schedule is also more flexible than other schools. Because I had to miss roughly a third of my daily classes, they allowed me to go to any classes that fit in the range I paid for. The ones at the same length and level as the previous ones, basically.

But because of my schedule change, I got out earlier, too (around 1:30), but Sera hated the idea me being home alone (waaaay too over-protective), since Mom doesn't get off work until three, when she comes to pick me up. So, I would ride the trolley or my bike to the college, and wait there until she got off, which is when we'd go home.

What I didn't get was that she was fine for me to be unsupervised, riding through town, but not alone at home.

Anyway, so I chatted with friends on the phone, or spied on people's labs, watching them for a few minutes as their creations came to life, either doing whatever they were designed to do, or malfunction and start beating their creator (funny story, but perhaps another time).

On Wednesday was when I found myself in front of Hiro's lab.

He was mostly sketching the whole time, the white nurse robot in the corner, poking around at stuff. Occasionally, Hiro would show the robot his sketches, but he mostly scribbled in silence.

Needless to say, I found it boring, and moved on.

But on Thursday, he was spinning in his desk chair while a 3-D printer labored behind him. As he spun, he caught sight of me peering in from the window.

Before I could hide, he pulled the door open, and smiled at me after the initial confusion.

"Oh, hey," he said. His black hair nearly hid a pencil that was tucked behind his ear, and his brown eyes were warm and welcoming. "You're... uh... Era! Was it? From the other night?"

"Uh... uh huh," I grunted, blushing. I was embarrassed that I had been caught spying on him. I had been caught once or twice before, but I hadn't ever talked to those people before, which made it a lot less awkward. "And you're Hiro, right?"

"Yep, that's me," he said. "So, what're you doing here, anyway? It's only..."- he glanced at his phone- "two. Shouldn't you be in school across town?"

I blushed harder. "Oh, yeah, well see-" so I awkwardly told him the gist of what happened. The whole time, Hiro studied my face, as if counting the faded brown freckles dotting my nose and under-eyes. I felt awkward, afraid he was staring at a spot, like food, or a pimple, but if so, he wasn't telling.

"Well, since you're free, you maybe wanna come in?" He gestured into his cluttered lab. Without anything else to do, I shrugged and entered the room.

He was definitely not as much of a clean freak as Lanie, that was for sure. Where my sister would have it prim and polished, Hiro had lose papers or pencils. Even though it was messy, the room was spacious enough so where it didn't feel cramped or cluttered. I easily could've gone through a dance peice, and not have bumped into anything.

"Sorry it's so messy," Hiro apologized. "I know with your sister, your standards must be high."

I scoffed. "You should see my room. It has about twice as much clutter, but half the space." I continued studying everything, then my eyes rested on the desk he was scribbling at yesterday. "So what're you working on?" I asked before walking towards the desk.

"Oh, uh, not much," Hiro grabbed the top few papers and hid them under his elbow. "Just a few possible project ideas."

"Really?"

"Yeah...?"

"Then what's printing?" I asked smuggly. He had no reason to be so secretive around him. It's not like I was going to steal his idea, or anything. Science wasn't exactly my forte.

Hiro looked like he mentally slapped himself. "Oh, um, I was just printing spare parts, ya know, in case."

"In case of what?" I smirked, watching as he struggled to find an answer. I found it adorable and funny, which led to me laughing.

"What?" Hir demanded, looking offended.

I smiled. "Just _you_. The way you're being so awkward and secretive. Come on, it's not like I'm going to steal your idea, or anything, I'm a dancer and painter, not a smart scientist like you." I playfully poked his chest to put emphasis on _you._

"It's not, that," Hiro said, shifting his weight over and over, looking at the ground, "it's just that, um-" he was interrupted by Baymax, who suddenly joined them.

"Hello, I am Baymax," the robot said with small, boxy wave.

"Oh, hey, Baymax," Hiro exclaimed, looking extremely relieved. "You remember our friend, Era, right? From Monday?"

Baymax blinked his souless, black eyes. "Era," he said, my name sounding really strange coming from a robot, "it appears as though the light sprain to your right ankle is healing well. I would suggest keeping it elevated and iced for the next few days. Perhaps wrapping it in an Ace bandage would help?"

"Uh, thank you, Baymax," I said with a small laugh. "But really, I'm fine. Thank you." I patted his arm, locking eyes with Hiro and letting out a laugh.

"So, about what you're working on..." I turned away from the robot, a sly smile playing on my lips as I made a grab for the papers he was trying to hide.

But, Hiro's fast if need be.

"No!" he shouted, struggling to hide them. I would've stopped, but he was laughing, and so was I, plus, I was curious. The struggle continued until we ended up entangled on the ground.

"You have fallen," Baymax noted, peering over the pair, head tilted to the side.

"Wow, you don't say," I said sacastically, trying to untie our limbs. Finally, I managed to sit on my heels a few inches from Hiro, and scooped up a drawing.

He noticed a little belatedly, and made a mad grab for it, but I was taller by, like, two inches, and managed to keep it out of reach until he settled down.

I glanced at it. "Wow!" I said, pulling it closer. "This looks like those heroes from a few months ago! I see we got a fanboy, huh?" I nudged his ribs. "It's okay, I'm in a ton of fandoms." I handed him the picture, the relief painted on his face not being hidden at all.

"Okay, if we're going to be friends, never do that again," Hiro said, somewhat sternly, though a smile played on his lips.

I rolled my eyes playfully. "Fine. Just don't give me a reason to. No secrets, okay?" I pointed a finger at him, although I knew that tomorrow was probably the last day we'd ever be "friends". And that made me sad.


	3. Hand-and-Hand

The next day, instead of snooping around other people's labs, I headed straight for Hiro's. However, when I arrived at his room, he wasn't there. Maybe he was in class? I didn't know. That's where Lanie was, although she wasn't a robotics major. She was into zoology.

I did one last survey of the lab, but I suddenly heard a voie behind me. I spun around, startled.

"Who are you?" the source of the voice demanded. It was an Asian girl with short black hair and brown eyes. She was only a few inches taller than me, but her outfit was one I approve of. She wore black leggings under black shorts, and a yellow tank top under a black leather jacket. Of course, small splashes of color were here and there, but for the most part, she was in all black.

"I'm, uh, Hiro's friend," I said, slightly intimidated by the older girl, but I think that's the look she was going for.

"Well," she said. "The doctor's out. He's in class." The girl did one last glance of my body; all the way up, all the way down. "Do you go here?"

"No," I said truthfully. "I go to a performing arts school across town."

"What're you doing here?"

I sighed. "It's... uh... complicated. Something to do with my sprained ankle." I glanced down so as to not make eye contact.

The girl shrugged. "Well, it's not really my business what people do. Just don't mess with his stuff, and we'll be okay. Okay?"

"Okay." I nodded.

Then the girl gave a small smile. Apparently, she thought her tough-girl look had done the trick (which it had), so she held out a hand. "I'm GoGo, by the way."

I gratefully shook it with a relieved smile. "Era."

"I need to get going," she said. "But remember what I said. I wasn't kidding. Don't touch his stuff without permission, and we won't have problems. Well, by now." She then proceeded down the hall.

_Well, that was actually terrifying,_ I thought, until another voice sounded behind me. Must be an off day, I suppose.

"Oh, hey, Era," the voice said, luckily, I knew the voice.

I turned, and saw Hiro standing there, his binder still in hand from class. I sighed and waved.

"Hey," I said with a relieved smile. "How are you?" Hiro shrugged and pushed the door open to his lab, which looked the same as ever.

Baymax stood in the corner in sleep mode, but his eyes blinked open when we entered the room. He looked us both up and down really quickly, as if scanning for injuries. Which apparently, he was.

"Hiro, your adrenal glands seem to be active," Baymax nodded. "This may explain the increased heartrate and tingling sensation in your abdominals. Also, your nerou transmitter levels are elevated, showing signs of being happy. Diagnos-"

Hiro suddenly freaked. He blushed and tried to shush the robot. "Thank you, Baymax!" he shouted, clamping a hand over the robot's mircophone to muffle its voice. "That's quite enough!"

Baymax continued to rant, but Hiro managed to muffle the sound enough so I couldn't make out what he was saying. I gave a nervous laugh through my hand, and blushed. I sort of guessed the reasoning behind what Hiro said, but I let it go.

"So," Hiro turned back towards me. He coughed nervously, his face bright red, but I quickly changed subjects.

"How was class?" I said to stop the inevitable awkward silence that would've followed.

The fourteen year-old shrugged. "Fine, I guess. I mean, it's still school, whether or not you enjoy it." His face was slowly turning back to its normal color as he spoke. "I'm working on this project for the quarter assignment. I've got a few ideas, but no grand ones, yet."

So, for the rest of the day, we bounced ideas back and forth with each other. I wasn't exactly good at it, but I helped with the decisions while Hiro drew on a sketch pad how it would work. I think it was pretty cool.

Lanie found us around three-thirty. She seemed to be upset about something, so I didn't argue with her when she said it was time to go.

I was about to leave when I remembered I might not get to see Hiro for a long time. With permission from Lanie, I ran back, clicking open a pen from his desk. Then, I seized his hand and wrote my phone number in his palm.

"Just text me, and maybe we can hang out this weekend," I offered, giving him a hug, then following my sister.

On Sunday, I got a text from Hiro.

_Hi, this is Hiro,_ the text said. _Is this Era's phone?_

_Yeah, how are you?_ I typed back.

_Fine. How are you? So, um, you said we could do something this weekend? _ Even without him standing in front of me, I could imagine just how awkward Hiro would've looked. I could tell he wasn't good with this type of thing.

_Yeah, of course! How does skating and ice cream sound? _I figured it might help if I didn't beat around the bush.

_Sure! Sounds fun. When did you...?_

_ How about four? Skating after?_

_ Perfect, _Hiro texted. _Meet at Ben and Jerry's by the college?_

_ Ben and Jerry's at four, _I replied, smiling down at my screen.

When we met up for skating, it was honestly the most fun I'd had in a long time.

"Hiro!" I called. I had arrived before him to the ice cream shop, and as I saw him walk in, I couldn't resist smiling. As he approached, I noticed a slight bruise by his hairline, and a slight cut on his cheek, but I didn't think anything of it.

"So how have you been today?" he asked as we licked our sugary cones.

"Pretty good, so far," I answered. "Kind of slow. All I did was read in bed until, like, three. Not that I'm complaining."

"Nice," he said, nodding. "I did pretty much nothing, too. I was busy yesterday, or I would've texted sooner." I glanced up to the bruise that was almost completely hidden by his black hair.

_Yeah. Busy,_ I thought. "Yeah, I had to go to rehearsal yesterday. We're doing Alice and Wonderland the ballet on the first of April. What were you up to?"

"Just hanging out with some friends from the school," Hiro said nonchalantly. "You know, my friend GoGo mentioned meeting you Friday."

I flashed back to a few days before when I met the girl with the black clothes and tough-girl attitude. She seemed pretty cool. "Yeah, she thought I was snooping around when I went by your lab. We're cool now, though... I think."

Hiro smiled. "Yeah. You're fine."

We finished our ice cream, and proceeded to the skating rink a few blocks down.

The inside was pretty filthy. The floors were "carpeted", but it wasn't any softer than concrete. Gum stains littered the rug, and the floors were sort of sticky. The benches were circular, and only about two-and-a-half feet off the ground. The rink itself was fairly large and had wooden floors. It was pretty dark in there, allowing a black light to illuminate any and all white, and loud pop music blasted in our ears. I loved this place.

We each purchased a ticket, which we then redeemed for neon blue skates.

At first, we both fell down a lot. It was difficult to get used to constantly moving, even when you were standing still (is that english?), but after about five minutes, we got the hang of it.

"Hey, wanna race?" I yelled over the music after about a minute of uncomfortable silence.

"What?" Hiro asked, then realization dawned on his face as he processed what I said. "Yeah, sure."

I smiled mischieviously. "Ready, set... _go!"_ I shot off ahead of Hiro, my slightly longer legs definitely giving me an advantage.

But the more we raced around the rink, the more Hiro caught up to me until we were neck-and-neck, most of the way around.

"You're going down, Hamada!" I yelled as the world around me blurred from a new-found burst of speed.

"Please!" Hiro scoffed. "Don't make me laugh!" He pushed harder, too, until we were even again. We stayed the same pace, but I felt myself losing speed as I rounded the last corner, resulting in Hiro winning the race.

As we began coasting to slow down, a little kid, about six years-old, cut in front of me. I tried to serve to avoid him, but as a result, I landed crashed into Hiro, and we both tumbled to the ground while the little kid just sailed by without a side-ways glance.

"You okay?" I asked, completely embarrassed and blushing.

"Yeah," Hiro said, giving me a smile to show he was fine. "What was that about?"

I sighed. "I swerved to avoid crashing into some kid," I explained. I tried to stand up, but my skates slid out from under me, and I fell back down with a thud.

From my left, Hiro burst out laughing and I playfully punch his shoulder.

"Quit it!" I said indignantly. "Let's see you get up on your first try, then, since you're so convinced its easy."

Of course, Hiro made it up, making it look no harder than breathing. Well, then.

"Oh, thanks, Mr. Know-It-All, now I feel better about myself." I gratefully accepted the hand he offered, and shakily got to my feet.

Suddenly, the music shut off, and a voice boomed over the speaker. "Alright, folks, it's time for couple's skate. If you are a forever-alone loser, please make your way off the rink at this time." The voice shut off and a slow song came on. I didn't recognize it, but it was a good song.

"Well, come on," Hiro said, and we made our way to the edge.

"No, come on, man," I said. "We paid to skat, now let's skate!"

Hiro's face grew red, which was still easy to see, despite the black light. "But, um, we aren't a couple," he stuttered.

"Yeah, but they don't know that," I replied, taking his hand. "Just act all lovey-dovey, and we'll be fine." We skated back out onto the rink, hand-and-hand, both blushing terribly and grinning from ear-to-ear.

When we were ready to part our seperate ways, we stood on the sidewalk outside, the sun beginning to set, casting everything in a pinkish glow.

"So, see you later, then," I said with a smile.

"Yeah, text you later," Hiro said. We hugged, but when we pulled apart, I quickly planted a kiss on his cheek, just to see his reaction.

Hiro was wide-eyed, his face as red as the sky.

"Bye, Hiro," I called. I climbed on my bike, and set off for home.


	4. Shipping and Recieving

The next few weeks were pretty strange.

I found myself getting more and more comfortable around Era the more I hung out with her. We would hang out at least four times a week, and the second weekend, I introduced her to my friends. They were all pretty cool about it. Except Honey, but, whatever. But the more we were around each other (I'm sort of embarrassed to say this), the more she would do what she did the night we went skating. Kiss me.

It was kinda strange. The first time was just as a joke, I think, but then it just became a thing she did, sort of like an inside joke. I don't think we're dating, as we never say "I love you" or call each other boyfriend and girlfriend, or anything, but I could tell neither of us would mind if it sort of just happened.

It was a cloudy, uneventful Tuesday. That is, until Honey Lemon popped into my lab as I was about to leave.

"So, Hiro," she said in a sing-song voice, swaying back and forth. "When are we going to see Era again." She held her hands behind her back and a smug grin on her face.

"Um, I hadn't really thought about it," I admitted, feeling awkward for some reason. "Why?"

She waited a few seconds, as if trying to hold it back, but then everything just spewed out. "Because you two are adorable together!" Honey exclaimed. She ran up and hugged me. "Oh, she's perfect, Hiro! She's so funny and kind and-"

I pushed her away. "Wait, you think we're dating?" I asked, wide-eyed and blushing.

"Well, yeah." Honey scrunched her eyebrows together. "You are, right? I saw her kiss you and just assumed..."

I blushed even harder now. "Well, we're not," I said, despite the red in my face obviously giving away how I felt about her. "We're just friends. Besides, even if we were, I don't want to be your OTP."

Honey Lemon didn't seem convinced, but she let it go. "I would still like to see her again, Hiro," she said cheerfully.

"I'll, uh, think about it," I said before shoving past her and leaving the school. I could tell that if I did bring her again, Honey would have other plans than just talking to us.

Of course, I had to invite Era to hang out with us again. She asked me to. Apparently, she liked them just as much as they liked the idea of us being together.

Anyway, Sunday was the only day we were all free before six, so we hung out them as Aunt Cass' cafe. Big mistake bringing Era there, because apparently, Aunt Cass shipped us, too. She brought us all free cupcakes and soda, nustling my hair casually with her hand whenever she walked by, while we sat in a corner booth, chatting about whatever came to mind.

"So, Era," Honey said after swallowing a bite of incredibly sugary bread, "where did you say you go to school?"

Era swallowed her bite, too, before answering. "It's a performing arts school," she said, leaning on the table. "We do the basics, math, science, spelling, lunch, but we also do different forms of art. Dancing, singing, band, painting, etc."

The group nodded. "Do you have any friends at your school?" Honey asked, but I could tell she was trying to poke around. I didn't like it.

Era shrugged. "Well, I mean I have people I hang out with during classes, but no one that I can really call a 'friend'." She put one-handed air quotes around "friend".

Even with her face half hidden by cupcake, I could still see Honey smiling mischieviously, a plan obviously forming in her mind. I glared at her, but didn't say anything.

"So any cool projects you're working on?" Era said, addressing the whole table.

"I'm working on a suppliment that can foreign emotions," Honey said suddenly. I hoped she wasn't going to use that to try to get Era and me together.

"Really?" Era said. "How does it work?" Honey than began a five minute lecture on the stystems in the body, and how they naturally work together to create emotions, then explained the way her suppliment would artificially trigger the various glands and nerves to reenact the same feeling you get when you're happy, sad, afraid, in love (that part worried me), angry, etc.

I looked at my phone when she was done with her pitch. "Hey, guys, I think we should get going if we wanted to catch that movie," I suggested.

We all stood up, threw away our trash, thanked Aunt Cass for the free food, than proceeded down the next few blocks to the movie theater.

"Come on!" Era said, smiling. She had apparently been waiting for a whole month for this movie to come out, and was beyond excited. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her to the back of the line, Honey grinning madly as she did.

The whole wait in line, Era was practically bouncing with excitement and she almost screamed at the teenager working the ticket stand as she bought her admission.

So, apparently, she got emotional at movies. It was an action-y movie, so whenever there was a jump scare (which happened about every five minutes), she would grab my hand for comfort. When the main character's girlfriend died in the movie, she even teared up a little- not that I'm judging- and hugged my arm tightly.

After the movie, we all went to the park, where we all learned that Era could skateboard. She and GoGo ended up having a race around the one mile track the park had. GoGo won, of course, being the speed demon she is.

We were all just chilling, having a great time, when we saw flashing blue lights speed down the road to the west of us. All five of us (not including Era) exchange knowing looks, then glanced down at the odd one out.

I let out a fake yawn and stretched. "Well, I think it's time to get going. It's getting pretty late." All my friends nodded in agreement.

"It's like eight," Era pointed out, "how is it late? The sun went down twenty minutes ago." She looked at all of us in turn, her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

"Yeah, but, you know, homework, and stuff," Fred offered. But that seemed to make it worse. Era knew he wasn't a student at SFIT.

She glared at us suspiciously. "What's going on? Why do you all suddenly want to leave?" Then she rounded on me, pointing a strong, pale finger at my face. "You said you wouldn't keep secrets."

I held up my hands defensively, looking to my friends for support, but found nothing. "I know, I know, but I promise, I'll explain tomorrow." I noticed my friends shaking their heads, looking panicked. I just promise to reveal our secret identity. I knew I shouldn't have, but it was all I could think of to do.

Era didn't look conviced, but sighed in defeat. "Fine. Go run off and do whatever you've got to do," she said, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture before crossing her arms over her chest and looking away from us.

I kissed her cheek in gratitude, although she didn't even react, before rushing off with the rest of my team of superheroes to rescue whoever required our services.

"Hiro, are you crazy?" GoGo asked, popping me upside the head as we rushed to the scene on Baymax, having just changed into our suits.

"Probably," I admitted.

"You can't just promise to tell someone our biggest secret!" Wasabi piped in.

"I know," I grumbled. "I'll make something up."

"You'd better," Fred agreed. "You can't go around spilling secrets, even to your girlfriend."

I grew red in the face. "We aren't dating!" I snapped. "Come on, we need to focus on where we're going."

The others shared a look behind my back that I pretended not to notice. Well, this was going to be a fun evening, wasn't it?

_**Okay, so I just noticed that I accidently call Era's sister Sera instead of Lanie sometimes. I'm such an idiot. *facepalms* That was going to be her name initially, but I didn't want their names to rhyme and sound lazy. Also, if you want, you can give me a one-shot and I write it, if you wish. Also, sorry about the short chapter. There's just so much I wanted to put in this chapter, that I decided to split it up. Oh, well. Hope you can forgive me? C:**_


	5. I'm (not) Fine

Honestly, today... could've been better.

When we arrived at the scene of the bank robbery, the police had just arrived at the scene. An officer, who appeared to be the chief, was on the phone. I guessed with the man inside, trying to coax him out. We flew above them, careful not to attract attention to ourselves.

Because the police aren't exactly fond of vigilantes, we flew around to the back to discuss our way of approach. Baymax scanned the building, and reported that there were seventeen hostages, and four thieves.

"So what's the plan?" Wasabi asked.

"I say we just sneak in and grab the culprits," GoGo offered. "Quick and easy."

I shrugged. "Maybe, but in case you haven't noticed, stealth isn't exactly the thing we're best at." I glanced up at Baymax, and GoGo shrugged.

"We could split up?" Honey Lemon suggested. "GoGo and I could sneak in and look around for the best place to sneak in to catch them."

Everybody nodded thoughtfully, enjoying the idea.

"Hiro can come with us," GoGo added, putting her helmet back on. Everybody looked up.

"Uh, why?" I asked, flattered that she wanted me to come with, but mostly just confused as the reasoning behind it.

GoGo rolled her eyes. "You're small. We might need that."

"Oh. Right." I jumped up and followed them. Was that the only reason? Because of my size?

We went in through an Employees Only door on the roof of the two-story bank. The upper floor had a bunch of offices in it, as well as safety deposit boxes. The lights were out for whatever reason, making it difficult to see, but we managed to navigate our way to the staircase with no problem.

On the lower floor was where it got intense. There hostages being moved around, being forced to remove their possessions from the lock boxes. I figured we might've blended in fairly easily if we didn't have our suits on.

We silently crept until we got to the room next to the main lobby, but there were too many people in there, and absolutely no way we would be able to move without being spotted. Instead, the girls helped me into an air vent from the room we were in, and I tried to creep through the small, metal maze.

After several tries, I finally made it to the vent that looked out over the lobby. I saw two people with guns in their hands, and two others held duffle bags, which they were quickly stuffing with money. There were three men and one woman.

I noticed a line of hostages facing the windows in the front. A few children were crying, snuggling close to their parents' pant leg, but whenever one got to loud, they were hit with the butt off the gun and told to shut up.

"Hiro, what do you see?" Honey's voice whispered over my ear peice.

I clicked a button to turn on mine and quietly explained what was happening. I said the best way in was threw a larger vent, hidden behind the a welcome desk, but I doubted Baymax could make it through.

"I'm going to try to find where the big vent let's out," I explained before crawling along the air way and towards where I suspected it was.

I never realized how complicated the ventilation system was until now. I got lost twice, but finally, I found it, made sure it was the right one, and started crawling the opposite way, giving status reports every minute or so.

The metal box was wide enough so that if I stuck my elbows straight out, they would barely touch the walls, and if I walked on my knees, I only had to crouch a little bit. I figured the larger people like Wasabi and Fred could fit through, but I highly doubted Baymax's ability to fit.

Finally, I found where it dead-ended, in the manager's office. Of course, someone was in there, frantically going through the drawers, pulling out papers and searching random things on the computer, like people's credit card information.

"It's no use," I whispered into my microphone, "There's someone in the office."

"Can you find another way in?" GoGo's voice whispered back.

"I'll-I'll try." I waited for a few moments to make sure he wasn't going to leave anytime soon. After several minutes, I started to back up. However, my knee slipped as I was turning, causing me to temporarily lose my balance and create a loud thud that echoed in the tight space.

I gasped and looked up, praying the man in the office hadn't heard it. Unfortunately, he did, and he crept towards the vent.

He was probably about 6'7 and near 250 pounds. His muscles rippled and he moved towards my hiding spot, a permanent scowl tattooed on his face.

"I've been spotted," I warned my friends through my ear peice. "You have to get out, now. Get out!" I turned off the microphone and tried crab-walking backward, ignoring my friends' questions, but the man easily pulled the vent's top off and grabbed my ankle, pulling me out into the open.

"Look what we have here," he said, holding me upside down by my foot. "What, you think you're a super hero, dressed in this little outfit, kid?" He laughed before taking my helmet off and throwing it on the desk. He then took duct tape, using it to bind my hands.

For some reason, my voice wouldn't work, otherwise I would've made up some excuse. I tried, but it came out as stammered nonsense, so the man shoved me forward and told me to be quiet. He forced me to walk out into the lobby where he showed me to the other robbers.

"Oi! Rick!" he called in a low, gravelly voice. "Come look what I found."

All of the other three robbers gathered around within seconds. I felt my knees giving out, but the man behind me grabbed the collar of my armor and held me up.

"What were you doing here, Superman?" the girl taunted. "Spying on us? Hiding? Well, Hide-and-Seek's over, kid." She crouched down to my height, her brown eyes full of amusement. "You know what happens to kids who disobey, right? Didn't mommy and daddy teach you? Must've been very good parents if they let you get away with everything." She glanced up at her friends, clearly enjoying this way too much to be healthy. "They get punished." On the word punished, she shoved me. She stood up and nodded to the man behind me and the one named Rick, who both forced me back down the hallway to a secluded room where they stripped off my armor, leaving me in the under armor, which was a lot less protective.

They took turns kicking me and throwing me, doing whatever they could to case me pain. It probably was only a few minutes, but for me it felt like years. When they stopped beating me, I was on the ground, struggling to breathe and clutching my ribs.

"That'll teach him, eh, Rick?" the man who found me said with a small nod and a demonic grin. "Leave him. It's not like he's going to go anywhere any time soon."

They both left the room, and I laid there for a few more minutes, allowing the pain to slowly ebb away until it was slightly barable. I slowly crawled on the floor, pain arching along all my limbs, but I kept going until I reached my helmet in the room across the hall. I eased it onto my head and pressed the button.

"Guys," I said softly. "You- you need to get out of he-" I was cut off by a chorus of my team reciting my name in happy, excited, and worried tones.

"Are you okay?", "Are you hurt?", "Where are you?", "Can you move?" and various other questions were all fired at me at once.

"Guys!" I said a little bit louder. But when my muscles contracted to expel the air, my ribs felt as though Baymax launched his rocket fist into them. I grunted and curled up in attempt to stop the pain.

"Hiro?" they all asked, worried.

"Guys, I'm fine," I said once I could breathe again. "You need to leave. These... these guys mean business. Okay, you have to leave. Now."

"We aren't leaving you Hiro," they all replied.

I fought back a surge of frustration. I needed to get them out of here before they got hurt, too. Then Baymax's voice sounded above my friends' objections.

"Hiro," he said, "my scanners are picking up high levels of pain from your direction. Would you like help? Year appear to have sustained major injuries that may be life-threatening if not properly treated soon."

Darn that robot. Why did he have to say that? Now they'll never leave.

"Hiro, we're coming in," GoGo said in a determined tone and I knew I wouldn't be able to convince her otherwise. "Where are you?"

I sighed. "I'm in the manager's office," I said. "But please, don't risk yourselves for me. I'll be alright."

"Fat chance," GoGo said, and all of their ear chips shut off, making me unable to communicate with them.

"Well, that's just great," I muttered to myself, rolling onto my back as I waited for them, unable to do anything besides wait. "This day is getting better and better."

Within minutes, they had entered the building. Not very quietly, I might add. Baymax and Honey entered the room to help me while Fred, Wasabi, and GoGo held off the attack from the bank robbers.

Honey helped me into Baymax's arms, then rushed to help the fight, leaving me to listen the sounds of battle, unable to help in any way.

I hated it. I felt so useless. I was used to being weaker than everyone else, being the youngest, every school I went to. But this was different. Big Hero 6 was supposed to be where I didn't have to feel that way. Where I could be strong and help people. But here I was, the slightest movement hurting my entire body, feeling weaker than ever. And I hated it.

Luckily, the fight didn't last long. Once the culprits had been caught and turned over to the police, my team rushed into the room to check if I was alright.

"I'm fine, really," I assured them from Baymax's arms.

"Hiro, you have three cracked ribs, a broken wrist, and slight internal damage," Baymax piped in. "Immediate medical attention is needed." I would've facepalmed if I wasn't in so much pain.

"So, no," Wasabi said, "you're not alight."

_**I know I said this story wouldn't have any action in it, but I don't think this was that bad, and this is pretty much it. I actually doubt this can be called action. Anyway, two chapters in one day?! Yeah, sorry, but don't get used to it. I just really wanted to get this chapter out of the way. I'm sort of too energetic about this, so I'm trying to pace myself. I've already planned out the next chapter, so I promise it'll be out by tomorrow evening. Bye my lovelies!**_


	6. A Good or a Bad Day?

I arrived home that night, feeling extremely upset. Why had they just ditched me like that with no explination? I found it odd that they left as the police cars sped by, but I was too focused on my emotions to deal with that.

I ignored Mom asking me if I had fun, and proceeded to my room, where I then flounced down onto my full-sized bed. I sat in silence for a moment, a million thoughts racing through my head, but after around ten minutes, I pulled out my phone.

I sighed and began texting Hiro, _Hey. Sorry I was so upset about what happened earlier. But I do need to know ok? Call me when you can._

Then I closed my eyes, finding it much easier to concentrate on my thoughts when I didn't have my vision clogging my brain. Another ten minutes came and went before I heard my mom's voice from the living room.

"Era?" she called. "You may want to see this."

Confused and curious, I left my bedroom, and proceeded down the narrow, powder blue-walled, ten-foot hallway to the living room. Mom was sitting on the couch in her night clothes. She wore gray shorts and a pink tank, her brown hair pulled back and clipped. Her glasses were halfway down her nose as her blue eyes studied the tv screen.

Lanie sat on the other half of the sofa. Her back was resting on the arm rest, and her hands clampered down on her phone, which rested on her maroon-sweatpants-covered knees. She gave me a half-glance when I entered the room, but she seemed even more glued to the news story than Mom.

"- the department is refusing to release details about the robbery at this time," a male reporter said as the screen gave a survey of a bank from above, "however, we expect they were able to arrest the culprits with the help of the superhero team known as Big Hero 6. So far, no casualties have been reported, although several children and young teens have been rushed off to the hospital, due to beatings from the assailents, including four year-old Jeffery Smith, nine year-old Hannah Wilson, fourteen year-old Hiro Hamada, thirteen year-old-"

But I stopped paying attention. Hiro was in the hospital? Why? What was he doing at the bank when the cop cars were heading there, long before he left? How had he gotten hurt? How hurt was he? Was he going to be okay? I was visibly shaking. Not knowing if he was okay was putting dark thoughts into my head, and I choked down a sob as I pulled my phone out.

_ARE YOU OKAY?!_ I texted, rushing back to my room. I waited about twenty seconds before texting him the same this again. After another twenty seconds, I called him, desperate to here from by best friend. However, I got his voicemail.

"Hey, Hiro," I said in as calm a voice as possible, but the fear was evident in my quavering voice. "Um, I saw the bank robbery on the news. They said you had been taken to the hospital? I just... I- I need to here from you. I have to know you're okay. Please call me back..." I hung up the phone, my eyes tearing up as images of him being brutally stabbed and left for dead clouded my thoughts.

I sat on top of the plush, blue comforter on my bed for a minute before clicking my phone back on and entering a group text with Hiro's friends.

_Hey guys. I saw what happnd on the news. Is he ok?_

A few seconds later, Honey replied. _Hes fine. Just a broken wrist. :)_

Even from that one text, I felt my heartrate decrease dramatically. But Fred was next to join in the conversation, which is never good. _And organ damage. Cant forget tht. Or the broken ribs._

_ Is he going to be ok?! _I demanded. I was struggling to keep it together. I needed a full status report. Now. Was he even going to make it? It sounded so serious...

_They think so,_ GoGo texted. _He just has to stay at the hospital 4 a day or so so they can monitor everything. Keep it from getting worse, yk?_

I couldn't help but sigh in relief. But then another burning question entered my mind. I glanced back at my phone in confusion. _How'd this happn?_

I waited until midnight. No reply.

The next morning was Monday, and I went through my normal classes in a blur. I probably failed the three quizzes I had that day, but I didn't really care. All I wanted to do was check up on Hiro and see how he was doing.

Luckily, Mom gave me permission to go there straight from school.

I figured it would be faster to take my bike, as the bus had to make stops, so I rushed down to the hospital on my white mountain bike, and made it there just after three-thirty.

The lobby wasn't the stereo-typical white-on-white cliche, it was actually quite colorful. Of course, the walls were an eggshell color, but the floor tiles were a brownish-purple. Plastic plants were everywhere, giving the already depressing place an even more dead, fake vibe.

Did I mention that I actually hated hospitals? Because, yeah. I do. They were where death happened. Plain and simple. I had enough bad experience here to know that most of the people that came in, never came back out. That didn't exactly help my rapidly accelerating heartbeat.

I walked up to the front desk and peered over the edge to see a woman about thirty with blonde hair and green eyes. Her hands typed on the keyboard, filling out paperwork, and her face and arms were smudged with fake tan.

"Excuse me?" I said in a small voice, my fear already rising. "Where might I find Hiro Hamada?"

The lady didn't even glance up from the screen. She spent about ten seconds answering my question. I noticed her pull up a patient list on the screen, glancing through the first two pages.

"Room 213," she answered. She pointed to my left, flashing me a brief, fake smile before returning to work.

I slowly crept down the silent hallway, worse-case scenerios rushing through my mind as I made my way down to room 213. Finally, I approached the door and gently pushed it open after knocking softly.

The first thing I saw was Hiro. He was sitting up in the bed, facing his friends, who sat in folding chairs against the wall. He wasn't hooked up to anything, like you'd expect, but his left arm had a red cast on it that covered most of his forearm. Honey's, Fred's, Wasabi's, GoGo's and Miss Cass' names were already written on it in black Sharpie. A few nasty bruises dotted his face and arms, but for the most part, he seemed to be fine. He even wore a smile and greeted me through a laugh.

Now, I'd like to say I was relieved and acted rationally. Although, that was not the case.

Dozens of emotions rushed through me at once. I was relieved, of course, but I also felt guilty for allowing him to do whatever he did last night that resulted in him getting put in the hospital. Mostly, though, I was angry. I was angry at whoever did this to him. I was angry at him for running off and getting himself hurt. I was angry at him for not even telling me what was doing last night.

I approached the bed as I tried to decipher my emotions. I tackled him in a hug that probably lasted for longer than necissary, my face resting in a scowl for the whole fourty or so seconds the hug lasted.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Hiro assured me, patting my ack with his good arm.

"I'm so happy you're okay." I sighed and pulled away. "Now I won't feel so bad for this." I punched him in the arm, perhaps a little too roughly than necissary, and exploded. "Where did you go last night? Who did this to you? How did this happened? What were you thinking? If I knew you were going to do something dangerous, I wouldn't have let you go."

I noticed Hiro looking pleadingly behind my back and as I turned around, I noticed his friends creeping out of the room. I couldn't help but smile lightly at how scared he was of me. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

"Hiro, please," I said and I sat on the edge of the bed. "Explain."

"Oh, well, you see," Hiro awkwardly began, "I was on my way home, and I got a call from Aunt Cass, um... asking me to pick something up for her at the bank. I, er, walked in, and as I was walking out, the robbery started." The whole time he "explained", Hiro didn't make eye contact and made dramatic gestures. He rubbed his arm, scratched his face and hands, crossed and uncrossed his arms, all within the twenty seconds of his obviously made-up story.

I angled my head, raising an eyebrow in a quizzical expression. "Hiro..."

Hiro glanced up, but not at me. I noticed what appeared to be figures nodding in the reflections in his eyes, and assumed it was his friends.

With a sigh, Hiro started explaining. _Really_ explaining. Apparently, he was more of a fanboy than I realized. In fact, he wasn't at all. He and the other teenagers that were standing in the hall were that superhero team, and they had been at that robbery last night, which resulted in this. But he said this wasn't the first time one of them had been hospitalized.

I was quiet for a really long time, just staring at my lap. For some reason, I didn't doubt what he said, but I didn't like it either. But I also knew I wouldn't be able to make him stop. I sighed and looked up at him.

"Fine," I said as I waved a hand dismissively. "Go play superhero, if that's what you want to do. Just..."- I glanced back up at him with a pleading expression- "just make sure I don't have to come down here and see you again. I really don't like hospitals."

Hiro seemed shocked. He squinted his eyebrows. "So, you're fine with it? I thought you'd forbid me to go."

I smiled. "See, I know I can't stop you. So, I just have to be there for you." I pulled him into another hug, then, after a few seconds, without thinking, I looked up and kissed him. But this time, it wasn't on the cheek.

The only reason I pulled away was when a flash came through the window.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Honey Lemon with her phone in hand, pointing at it victoriously while the rest of the team cheered and I awkwardly covered my face with my hands, laughing from embarrassement as they entered the room. I fell backwards on the bed, letting out a small shriek of distress.

I sat up, everybody still clapping with smiles on their faces. My face was growing redder by the second and I wanted to curl up in a ball forever as Fred clapped me on the back. I noticed Hiro and Honey Lemon sharing a glance. Hiro seemed extremely annoyed, although a smile played on his (extremely soft) lips, but Honey was grinning like a madman as she showed him the picture she had taken of the event on her phone.

So. Good day or bad day? I'd file today as a success, to say the least.

_**Okay, so I know I lied. I promised this would be out by yesterday evening, but life happened. Besides, you got two chapters on Monday, so... Anyway, I hope you like it. This one had more of the awkward fluff I was going for. There will be much more (and better) fluff to come, so don't worry. The next chapter will be all to fabulous! (I hope) Thanks for reading!**_


	7. Stories

I was luckily released from the hospital the next afternoon, though I was told to take it easy, which meant my friends would have to handle any and all crime-stuff that happened within the next few weeks. Of course, I had to wear a cast for a few weeks, but that was the worst of it. The doctors said I just had moderate bruising on a few internal organs, and as long as I didn't put them through too much stress, my ribs would heal on their own, considering they were only slightly cracked.

However, Aunt Cass decided I needed rest. She called the university and forced them to allow me a few weeks off from class without penalty, and made me stay upstairs for at least a few days.

At first, I was pretty okay with it. I just played of my computer, sketched ideas for various projects, or texted my friends, but after close to a week, it got _boring._ I begged Aunt Cass to let me out of the house, but she made me wait a few more days. Luckily, after eight days of being stuck up in my room, I was freed from my cage.

I made plans with Era to meet at her place. I'm, uh, pretty sure we're dating now, or something, because of what happened the first day in the hospital, and the days following, but I'm not one hundred percent sure.

Anyway, with Aunt Cass' permission, I headed to her apartment one the other side of town.

The apartment complex was probably about four-stories high with a simple brick exterior. The doorstep was shelter by a small jutted roof, and a sign read off the apartment numbers next to the people who currently lived their. According to the sign, the Jones' lived on the uppermost story in room 2D.

I pressed the red button by Era's last name and after a raspy "Hello?"from the speaker, I proceeded to explain who I was and my I was there. When I said my name, I heard Era's voice in the background telling, who I guessed to be her mom, to buzz me in.

"Okay, okay, Era, goodness," the voice said a little bit quieter over the speaker before a loud humming buzz sounded and I pushed open the wooden door into the apartment complex.

Once I knocked on their black door, it opened almost immediately and Era stood there, smiling.

She wore her curly, chestnut-brown hair down today, which partially hid her face. She wore a light blue tank and jeans, as well as fluffy socks on her feet. She seemed a bit nervous for me to be at her house, which was perfectly understandable.

"Hey," she said with a small wave. "Come in." She moved out of the way and I entered her home, which had a very rustic, quaint, warm presence about it.

The floors in the living room were wooden and well-polished, leading me to wonder how she could stay upright with socks on. To my right was a small kitchen, but straight ahead was a couch, which faced a tv sitting on a shorter bookshelf. To my left was a dining table with metal legs, but the table top was glass, so you could see through. It matched the coffee table in front of the couch.

The walls were a light, powder-y blue and held several pictures of her and her family. But as I studied the photos, I realized a guy about early thirties stopped appearing in them after the ones when she looked about four. I decided not to mention it just yet.

I only just realized her mother was in the kitchen. She looked up when I walked in, wiped her hands on a table, and stepped around the counter to meet me.

She had light blue eyes, but the same hair as Era. She was only probably an inch taller than her daughter. Her lips were parted in a smile as she walked forward, reaching a hand out for me to shake.

"You must be Hiro," she said in a voice that reminded me a littl bit of my aunt's. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Jones," I said politely, shaking her hand.

"Oh, no, just call me Zoey."

I nodded with an awkward smile as I pulled my hand away, making eye contact with the fourteen year-old standing next to her.

"Come on," Era said, seizing my hand and pulling me away from her mom.

As I was being escorted, I was pulled down a narrow hallway towards the end of the living room. At the end of the hall was spindally wire stairs that spiraled upwards, however, we went into the room by the base of them. I could tell through the open door, that the room across the hall was a bathroom, and her sister's and mother's rooms must've been upstairs.

Inside Era's room was definitely not what I imagined. The walls were dark purple, and the floors were the same wood as everywhere else in the house that I've seen so far, apart from the kitchen. She had a full-sized bed in the far corner, only a small bookshelf between it and the window. Her dresser was to the left of the doorway, and she had two desks. One was oviously for schoolwork, but the other just had several pictures of family and friends. Both desks were equally messy and cluttered, but the rest of the room was cleaned, but from what she told me, her room was not typically this tidy. I was slightly startled when Era sat down on the bed and a dark, furry figure began rubbing against her arm. I realized it was a cat.

"So..." Era said awkwardly, stroking the cat.

"So..." I echoed. I appraoched the bed and allowed her kitty to sniff me before it began rubing up against my hand to get me to pet it. "Cool room."

"Thanks," Era said in a quiet voice. "This is Buddah, by the way." She motioned to the black-and-gray cat that was now curled up on my lap. "Honestly, I didn't expect you to be good with cats, from the stories you've told me about Mochi."

I smiled. "Yeah, I didn't think I was, either," I replied, scratching behind the fuzz-ball's ears as he purred loudly.

After a few minutes, we ended up lying down on her bed, watching a movie on her laptop, via Netflix. It was pretty quiet, and nice, nothing too special.

After the movie ended, we proceeded to play with the cat and exchange funny stories about our childhood. A few of her stories contained her dad. I noticed how her eyes lite up when she talked about him, and she seemed to be reliving the memory, not telling it. But after her tale ended, she would quietly listen to mine, a distant look in her eyes.

"So, where is your dad?" I asked sometime later, curiousity finally pulling the question out of my mouth.

"He, uh, ran off," Era mumbled, looking down at her hands to avoid eye contact. "He wasn't ever a good father, I mean, but, uh, he left my mom for some other lady the day before my fourth birthday." I could tell this was making her emotional, and understandably so, but she also seemed annoyed at herself for tearing up. "That's pretty much why I don't have many friends. I hate getting attached to people if I'm not possitive they'll stick around."

After she finished, I wished I hadn't asked and put her through that. She would've told me when she was ready, but instead, I forced her into an awkward situation. I hugged her tightly to help keep her from crying.

"How about some ice cream, huh?" I asked with a smile. I used my thumb to wipe away a rogue tear that fell, despite her struggle.

She smiled and nodded. "That's sounds awesome."

_** Hey, guys. I know this is really, really short and it took me forever to put up, but that's because I'm kinda sick, so my creative juices aren't flowing properly. I'd like to promise the next chapter will be better and will be up sooner, but I'd hate to lie. I will try, though, I promise! I already have an idea for the next chapter, unlike this one, so it should be faster coming than this one. Hope you aren't too mad at me? Anyway, see you in the next chapter!**_


	8. A New Bond

_**Before I get started, this chapter is going to be a little bit longer because I've been dying to do this, so I'm going to make sure it's perfect. Unlike my other chapters, this one is going to swap back and forth between perspectives. Alright, enough, enjoy!**_

___Hey guess what today is?!_ I typed excitedly into my phone a few weeks later after Hiro had been back full-swing.

After a brief pause, my phone vibrated and Hiro's text popped up. _What?_

I smiled and bit my lip before answering. _opening night! remember? for alice in wonderland?_

_ Yea I remember_ Hiro texted back. _Congrats. Too late for me to get tickets?_

_ nope! but you dont have to come silly :) _I sent, but I really hoped he would insist on coming to see me. And that's what he did.

My phone chimmed again. _No I want to come! itll be fun. ive never seen u dance before. i bet youll do great. :)_

I was alone in my room, but I was still embarrassed by the school-girl giggle that erupted from my lips. _thanks. its at seven. see you then 3_

_ see you then :) 3_

Aftr the performance that night, I met Hiro in the lobby after changing out of costume. My hair was still slicked back in a tight bun and my face was coated with heavy stage makeup, but I was in normal street clothes when I walked out to meet him.

Hiro was definitely in nicer clothes than usual, but nothing too fancy or over the top. When we made eye contact, he smiled and met me halfway.

"Hey, good job," he said as we embraced.

"Thanks," I said, a childish smile plastered on my face. "But there's lots of people. Let's go outside to talk."

Once we were outside the theatre, we headed down the street, hand-in-hand, while talking. Overall, it was a magical night. We ended up at a small park about a mile away from the theatre, and sat on a park bench, just enjoying conversation. That was until my phone buzzed.

I pulled it out of my bag, noticing that the time was 10:23 (the play let out at nine), and read my new text message.

_Good job tonight honey,_ the message from my mom read. _im glad youre out having fun but come home. its getting late. _

I sighed and slipped my phone back in my bag. "That's my mom," I explained. "She wants me to come home."

Hiro looked slightly put out, but managed a smile. "Okay, well, good night, then. Great show." We hugged again, and I planted a kiss on his cheek again before we turned our seperate ways and headed home.

As I was walking, I got within four blocks of my apartment when I felt my breathing pick up. My heart began beating faster, I felt all my mucles tense, and I couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched.

_Quit being such a baby! _I mentally scolded myself. _You're perfectly fine. You're almost home, so such it up!_

But as I continued on my way, I felt the feeling grow and grow into an overwhelming sensation and I felt myself mentally shut down as I edged near a full-on panic. Quickly, I whipped out my phone and typed 911 on the dial pad, but I figured I knew someone who would come a lot quicker than the police, if need be.

With Hiro's number dialed and ready to go, I got ready to cross the street onto the second-to-last block before my home. However, as I cautiously looked both ways down the road and placed one foot on the cracked, black pavement, I felt a hand on my elbow.

I gasped loudly and spun around, but I ended up standing face-to-face with a homeless man.

He was probably only about fourty. His hair was starting to gray, but not noticably so, and his blue eyes were prominent against his darkly-tanned skin. His clothes weren't overly filthy, but they were several sizes too large, and the fingernails gribbing my arm were much too long, cracked, and filthy.

I tensed and tried to subtly pull away, but the man had a strong grip, and just smiled at me with yellow teeth. I gulped, but managed a polite smile.

"H-hello," I stammered, my unease only growing as the man just looked me up and down. "I'm sorry,but... I-I need to get home. My family's expecting me." I tried to pull away again with an appology and a stammered "thank you", but once again, the man just held onto my arm and wouldn't let go.

"Where ya live?" he said in a pleasant enough voice. He casually linked his elbow with mine and proceeded the way I was heading before I was stopped. "It's dangerous out here, you know. I'll help you."

"R-really, it's fine," I stammered and I slipped my arm out from his, backing away. "I'm not far."

"Then it's not far out of my way," he said, seizing my hand and walking on with such force that I had no choice but to follow. I tried to make up an excuse of why I had to leave, but everytime I tried, he just interrupted with "Don't worry, it's fine."

Eventually, he led me off the main road and onto a back alley way.

"This isn't the way to my house," I muttered as he pulled me onward.

"Course it is!" the man exclaimed. "When you've been outside as long as I have, you begin to find short cuts. This'll get you home faster! Trust me."

_Okay, this is it,_ I thought. "I'd really prefer to go my normal way," I insisted. When the man again denied, I inconspicuously pressed the _call_ button on my phone and dialed Hiro.

I heard a muffled "Hello?" sound from inside my black hoodie's pocket, but I managed to mute the sound enough so the homeless man couldn't hear. Then, with Hiro listening, I proceeded to beg for freedom.

"I'm sorry, but could we please go the other way? I'd feel a lot safer that way," I said, hopefully loud enough for the phone to pick up.

"Aw, there's no reason to be afraid, miss! I'll protect you," the man said as we rounded a dead-end with several tarps placed over boxes. I noticed sillouettes and figured they must be other homeless people and my breathing and heartrate quickened even more so.

"This-this isn't my house," I said, forgetting about telling Hiro where I was and focusing on getting out as fast as possibly. "Leave me alone, I can find my own way."

The man put on a sad face that obviously hid some other expression. "Aw, you don't need me? But I can get you home safely."

I shook my head. "No thank you." Before turning and running out of there, but I could hear several pairs of feet chasing me. I managed to get close to the busy main road, but one of the hobos caught up to me and grabbed both of my arms at the elbow so I couldn't run forward.

"It's not safe that way, miss," he whispered in my ear, his foul breath reeking like rotten meat. "Come this way and you'll be alright."

"Let go of me!" I cried, struggling in his grip, but to no avail and another rushed forward and lifted my feet off the ground.

As my center of gravity shifted, I heard a _thud_, and noticed my phone fall out of my pocket and onto the pavement. The screen went black as it hit the concrete, and I figured any connection with Hiro had been lost.

What happened next was a blur. I remember fighting against them, but ultimately being dragged back to the little "campsite" I was at before where I continued to struggle until I noticed a tall, looming figure in front of me by at least twenty feet. The street light caused the figure to be dark and shadowy, but I recognized the sillouettes and relief flushed through my body at the sight of them.

"Leave her alone," a familure voice said in a dangerous tone.

At the command, two of the people holding me let go, fear evident on their faces as the giant, eight-foot figure stared them down, but the man who led me here pushed me to the ground and stood over me like a dog guarding a steak.

"And what are you going to do?" he said steely calm, though his fists clenched in a defensive sort of way.

As they stepped into the light, the man's tough guy camo melted and he shrunk down like a corner rat. He stepped backwards, tripped over me as I scrambled out of the way, and he scooted under his little tent-thing.

I ran over to my heroes as Hiro climbed off Baymax and took off his helmet, and they ushered me away from the scene. I was visably shaking. I had pretty much no idea what was going on. My brain had shut down after I made the descision to call Hiro, and I was ready to get home. Once we were a safe distance from the homeless people, I collapsed in my boyfriend's arms and began sobbing while he fussed over me.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he asked, stripping me of my hoodie to check for wounds. There were red marks from the hobos' strong grips as they attempted to kidnap me, but for the most part, I was unscathed. Just terrified.

When I could see through my tears of fear and relief, I could tell Hiro was worried sick. His eyebrows weren't scrunched together in worry as he inspected me and he bit the corner of his bottom lip. Occasionally, his hand was run through his hair, and it was overall the most adorable thing I had ever seen.

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh before reaching up and giving him a kiss full on the lips. But even after we broke apart from the several-second kiss, Hiro still had a look of panic about him.

"I'm fine," I told him, though I wasn't sure if I was lying. "Can you take me home, now, Superman?"

With Hiro's and Baymax's help, I got home safely, but my stomach twisted with fear at the thought of him leaving just yet.

"Do you think you could stay the night?" I asked, slightly embarrassed. "My mom probably won't mind, and tomorrow's Saturday."

Hiro shrugged. "Yeah. Yeah, of course," he entered the house as I moved aside, and we headed to my bedroom.

Hiro changed out of his suit, which we hid under all of my useless clutter, and deactivated Baymax while I showered, removed my make up, and changed into pajama pants and an old T-shirt in the bathroom across the hall.

About twenty minutes later, I went back to my room and saw Hiro sitting on my bed. He had changed and was staring down at his phone, but his head popped up when the door shut behind me.

"I was just letting Aunt Cass know where I am," Hiro explained as I sat on the bed next to him and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks for staying with me," I whispered, knowing I came from a family of light sleepers.

"Yeah, of course," Hiro whispered back. "I'll always be here." He hugged me back and kissed my forehead as we layed down on my mattress.

We ended up falling asleep exactly like that, wrapped in each other's arms, both completely content.

_ (HIRO'S PoV)

I paused, my hand on the door handle as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pushed the door open to my home as I answered Era's call.

"Hello?" I spoke into the reciever, but what I got in response made me uneasy.

"I'm sorry, but could we please go the other way?" Era's voice said, but she sounded farther away than she would be just talking on the phone. "I'd feel a lot safer that way."

I wa about to hang up, figuring she just butt dialed me, but I suddenly recognized the fearful edge in her voice as she spoke, and the man who responded to her didn't help with the worry already forming in my gut.

"Aw, there's no reason to be afraid, miss!" a raspy, masuline voice rumbled. "I'll protect you."

My blood quickened its pace through my body as I continued listening to my phone call, already heading to the garage where I kept my suit. I clicked the phone onto speaker when I reached the garage and waited a moment before deciding to change into my suit or not.

"This-this isn't my house," Era's voice said after several moments of almost complete silence. "Leave me alone. I-I can find my own way back." The slight, fearful quaver of her voice was enough for me to know that I should probably go help her.

I activated Baymax as I slipped on my own armor, and assisted the robot in putting on his when I was finished. As quickly as possible, I climbed on Baymax and shot out of the garage.

While we flew, I had Baymax scan for her location. Luckily, we were able to locate her fairly easily, and had arrived to her rescue within three minutes. However, I know from experience that that's plenty of time for everything to go horribly wrong.

As we approached our location, I heard the sound of screaming, which, in a way, was very relieving to hear. At least I knew she was still alive. But, Era could be experiencing something much worse than death, and I felt dread fill me once more. I shook that thought from my mind and followed the shouts, landing in a back alley about two blocks from the apartment complex Era lived in.

There, I saw four people dragging Era backwards into a dead-end. She noticed me land, and relief appeared on her face as her screaming stopped.

The four people struggling with her (two men, two women), paused and looked my way too, although their face bestowed looks of fear. Three of them let go of Era upon my command, running back in fear of the giant robot facing them, but one stayed.

Era was on the ground from when the other three had dropped and barged past her, and the man stepped protectively over her like a wild animal guarding a particularly tastey peice of meat.

As he defied me, I had Baymax step into the light to give the obviously homeless man a final chance to back down. After a quick sweep of the robot's appearance, the man turntail and fled.

I quickly climbed off Baymax while Era rushed to her feet. We met in the middle, and I grabbed her elbow, assisting her in leaving this god foresaken place. We made it about ten yards, but then all the tears she had been trying to hold back let loose.

She had been teary-eyed the whole trek, but when she finally felt safe, everything just exploded. Era collapsed on the ground and curled up.

I could tell she had been terrified.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I demanded as she sobbed. I took her hoodie off of her back and began inspecting her arms, legs, and back for wound; stabs, bites, scratches, bruises, broken bones, anything.

Luckily, all I found were a few nailmarks and slight redness and bruising from the homeless' strong grips.

We sat for probably ten minutes, Era's sobs becoming calmer. She wiped the last few stray tears from her red face, hiccuping slightly. I noticed her blinking up at me as I finished inspecting her before she let out a laugh, though I wasn't quite sure why.

She reached up and pulled me into a long, wet kiss.

"I'm fine," she said with a small smile and she leaned against my chest. "Can you take me home now, Superman?"

I felt my concern ebb away as I helped her to her feet. She didn't wince at all, nor did she limp, so I figured she couldn't be that hurt.

Instead of flying like normal, we walked to her home. I figured since it was only two blocks away, and we had Baymax to protect us, nothing bad would happen. Besides, I was pretty sure she'd had enough excitment for one day.

A few minutes later, we were at the door to her apartment. She opened the door and stepped inside, although she turned to me before closing.

"Thanks for rescuing me," Era mumbled, looking down to avoid eye contact.

"Don't sweat it," I answered, hoping to not show how scared I had been. My hands and knees still shook from the fear that had marinated in my gut as I flew to her. Worst-case scenarios had rushed through my head, and I had no idea how I would've reacted if I didn't get there in time.

I gave her a soft, gentle hug and turned to leave, but Era called me back.

"Do you think you can stay the night?" she blurted at my retreating back. "M-my mom would be fine with it, and tomorrow's Saturday."

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course." I figured she needed comfort right now, so I entered the three bedroom apartment and followed her to her room without any form of arguement or exasperation.

Era held her elbows in both hands and motioned inside. "You can change in there, if you want. I was going to shower and remove my makeup."

I nodded, flashed her a quick smile, and entered the room with Baymax trailing after me. While Era was in the room across the hall, I stripped off my armor, but kept on the clothes I wore underneath, which was long black shorts, and a tighter black tank. Not what I usually wear, yes, but they're what fits better under my armor.

After I changed, I deactivated Baymax into his portable charger, and sat on the bed. I pulled my phone our and texted Aunt Cass to let her know what was happening. By the time I got the okay text back, Era entered her bedroom after a soft knock.

All makeup from earlier's performance had been removed, her hair was wet and hanging around her shoulders, and she wore baggy sweatpants and T-shirt that was a few sizes too big.

"I was just letting Aunt Cass know where I am," I said as Era sat down next to me. She enveloped me in a tight hug, her head resting on my shoulder.

"Thanks for staying with me," she whispered.

"Yeah, of course," I replied, hugging her back just as tightly. "I'll always be here." But as I spoke those words, I remembered my brother saying the exact same thing when our parents died when I was three. I hoped I would be able to fullfill my promise, which was something Tadashi never got to do.

After seeing Era let out a huge yawn, I could tell she was tired. I layed back on the bed and she followed, snuggling up into my chest like a lost kitten. I've got to admit, I was pretty tired, too. So, we ended up falling asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

The next morning, we both went out of her room to the smell of pancakes. Of course, Ms. Zoey was pretty confused and shocked to discover that I had spent the night with her daughter, but after we explained last night's ordeal (leaving out the whole superhero part, instead saying that I was with her when she was jumped), she understood, although she still didn't seem too happy about it.

"Well, it's okay this time," she said in a curt tone, "but just make sure you tell me what's going on next time, even if that means waking me up."

"Well, you could wait up instead," Era pointed out, back to her chipper, sarcastic self.

"I thought I could trust you to get home safely," her mother retorted. "Thank you for helping my little knucklehead, Hiro." She added, serving us both blueberry pancakes.

I smiled and graciously took the plate. "My pleasure, really," I said. "I'm just glad nothing bad happened." I gave Era a sideways smile before digging into my pancakes.

Shortly after, we retreated to my house where I was going to change into normal clothes, but Aunt Cass stopped us. Luckily, I managed to get mine and Baymax's suits into the garage before she noticed that we were home.

"Hey, sweetie, you home?" she called from the cafe.

"Yeah," I answered and we both causally strolled into the resturant. "Just got back."

Aunt Cass handed a customer his ordered before replying. "Do you think you could give me some help? We're pretty busy, and to be honest, I may have to fire our new dishwasher."

"Oh, please, do tell," I said in an overly-fancy tone that foreigned interest with a bit of a smirk as we both slid behind the counter.

Aunt Cass rolled her eyes and ruffled my hair. "Just get to it, knucklehead."

Era and I took up different positions. Era assisted the dishwasher as Aunt Cass suggested, while I helped take orders. We only worked for a about fifteen minutes until another employee came off break.

"Why don't you take something?" my aunt suggested as we were excused. "For payment."

"What a great idea! Thank you, Aunt Cass," I smirked, grabbing us both a cookie. "You know I never tire of your baking!"

"Just get out of here!" Aunt Cass said, faking exasperation.

Both immensely enjoying our treats, Era and I exited the cafe and went into the residential part of our apartment.

"Just wait here, I'll be right back," I said to Era, biting into my cookie and heading up the stairs, leaving Era in the living room petting Mochi.

I hurriedly threw on a more appropriate outfit and rushed back down stairs to find Era quite enjoying my cat's company.

"Honestly, I don't see how you can't like him," Era said through a smile as the fat cat kneeded her lap.

"I don't know, I'm just not a cat person," I said, although I scratched under his chin when he bumped my hand.

"More into dogs?" Era suggested.

"Rephrase: I'm not an animal person," I replied. "I mean, they can be cute at times, but... I don't know, I just don't necissarily _love _ them."

"I do," Era stated simply. "I actually hope to one day be a vet. Not like, your typical, everyday vet, though."

"What do you mean?" I asked. By looking into Era's eyes, I could tell how badly she wanted to share her dream, but I supposed she felt like she was being annoying whenever she got too detailed. I felt that way, too, sometimes. So, I pushed a bit, and allowed her to explain.

"Well, you know, like, wild animals," she began. She stopped petting Mochi, who looked offended before prancing away. "Like the animals that get hurt in a forest fire, or an oil spill, or poachers, or just in a fight. I want to help those. Those are the ones people always complain about. They say how the tigers are going extinct, but no one's doing anything about it. Sure, I'm not going to be the one stopping people from hunting them, but I _can_ help the ones that are injured so that the species can thrive. But I want to do that with _all_ animals. Big and small."

"So, you want to help the planet," I summed up. "Not pets. Makes sense. What else?"

Era smiled to herself and continued explaining her dream to me. About how she would get to travel the world to help these animals. How she planned to assist to stop extinction. How badly she wanted to help those in need. It was amazing to see her eyes light up while she spoke, and I realized, in that instant, how much I truly cared for her.

When she said all she could say on the subject, Era sighed. "Thanks for listening. I bet that was _super_ boring."

"No, no, it was interesting," I answered. "You seem so passionate about it."

Era blushed slightly and brushed her hair behind her ear. "So, what do you plan to do? I mean, as a career. Obviously, crime fighting as a superhero won't pay the bills, however many people you're saving."

"I'll probably keep up the crime fighting, yeah," I answered, "but engineering will probably be what I'll do as a career. I'm thinking about making more Baymaxes to send to hospitals in the future. That's what he was meant for, originally." Then I flinched. I realized she didn't know about Tadashi, so that meant I would have to explain.

"Really?" Era asked, and I prepared myself for the next question. "I guess I never did ask you where superhero-ing came into the mix. What happened?"

At first, I was reluctant to explain. But then I remembered my promise to her about not keeping secrets. I sighed and began explaining. As I basically retold my whole last year, Era didn't say a word. She watched me quietly, reacting only slightly as I told of the events that happened at Krei Tech. When I finished, sympathy clouded Era's eyes.

"That's terrible," she said plainly, pulling me into a hug.

"Yeah, it was," I admitted. "But, now I've got you. I don't need to be sad anymore."

Era smiled and gave me a kiss, but I regretted those words. Sure, I was happy to have Era with me, but was I really just trying to replace my brother with her? I didn't think so, and if I was, it wasn't working. There was, and always would be, a spot for Tadashi in my heart, and no one would be able to replace him. No matter how important they were to me. Every person who entered my life meant something different to me than the last. I realized that and relaxed a little. I decided it was better to not think that way, and to just love those who were here, and remember those who weren't. I sighed slightly and leaned farther into Era's hug, relishing at the relief I felt.

_**Okay, so... not sure where that last paragraph came from. It literally just came out and I didn't have the guts to erase it. I think that was mostly just my subconscious talking, working stuff out. But, hey, it fit, and I think it's... decent? Anyway, I know this one took forever, too, but I hope this may be a little better... At least the last section? And yes, charcters being put in life-threatening situations is my kryptonite. I'm sorry, but it just gives me the good kind of feels, and I had to do it. I promise it'll mostly just be about flirty silliness from here on out, although *SPOILER ALERT* they will have a falling out. Not letting anything else loose just yet. Anyway, thank you guys for reading, I promise I'll try to update sooner as I am starting to not feel so much like death, but please, leave a review, good or bad, and I'll try to improve. Thanks!**_


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